Take A Look At My “beginners” Page

[+Thot]

I wrote this Introduction to Geocaching hoping to give the newbie an overview of how to get started, and hopefully answer some of the questions that keep appearing here. I oversimplified some things to make clear, easily understandable starting points.

 

I didn’t address how the forums work.

 

http://factsfacts.com/geocacher.htm

Edited October 9, 2004 by Thot

[+Criminal]

Awesome! I like it!

 

I have only skimmed it so far but I'll be back when i have more time.

 

Good job!

[+tirediron]

Nice, well done. My only comment after a quick skim through... you don't need a GPSr... lots of people have done lots of 'caches sans GPS. Still, a big thumbs-up!!!!

[+luvmybostonterrier]

Nice! I just got into this a few weeks ago and everyone is asking me what the heck it is. This will be a great link to send to people who want to know more.

[+Anonymous']

That's an awesome intro to caching page!

[+GeoBrowns]

Great job!

In addition to your link, one can also print out these two downloads to give to friends, co-workers, one is a tri-fold brochure and the other a business card size folding card.

Downloads

[Prairie Jeepin]

Good on ya Thot!! Nice informative page.

[+Renegade Knight]

Petty good. Well worth linking too.

 

Since you brought it up, maybe an email to Magellan to find out the true answer about the boomerang effect and estimating your position without a lock that some people experience and others think is an urban legend started by Garmin owners ?

[+Awsome Ev]

Very nice. I liked it alot. There were even a few things in there that I didn't know. A big thumbs up.

[+greende]

Nice going!!! I just added it to my "favorites" list on my browser. Thanks for the effort.

[teamh3]

very informative. I noticed that you are using frontpage to design the page. and to me atleast front page has a tenancy to make things look a little generic. dont get me wrong, im not knocking it I think the links and information are top notch!! big A plus on that. all I am saying is that look of the site could be better. i have made several sites and have alot of experience with graphics and photoshop. If you would like I could help a little and make the site really pop!

 

once again the site is very informative and I myself have already sent the link to several of the people I have exposed to geocaching. I think it is a great first primer on the sport/addiction

[+Prime Suspect]

Is there some significance to why some parts are in a much smaller type font (which is really difficult to read, especially on a gray background) than others? It seems to just randomly change font sizes. Am I just missing some scheme to this?

 

And if you don't see what I'm talking about, that means your browser is broken (i.e., it's probably IE). Look at the page in a standards compliant browser, like Mozilla, Firefox, or Opera, and you'll see what I'm talking about.

Edited October 9, 2004 by Prime Suspect

[+Prime Suspect]

I see you've update the page. It looks much better now.

[+CompuCash]

Nice job -

[+Renegade Knight]

I like the EasyGPS companion program. It won't be long before I'm going to need something like that.

[+smullis]

Nice job. Very informative. I've already sent out the URL to a couple interested friends. One suggestion would be to make your links open as new windows...this would have gotten me back to the page quickly once I started looking at your pictures.

[+BadAndy]

The gps companion looks very useful. I've been needing a program like this for consolidating my own waypoints while hunting. Kudo's.

[+GPSKitty]

Woo hoo! Most excellent, especially considering you are a relative newcomer.

I give it a gold star. I am much impressed.

[byGosh]

Well done! I like the Home Repairs section of the website also.

 

Garmin also offers a free introduction to geocaching manual.

[+New England n00b]

Wow, well done!

[+Cache on the spot]

Thanks Thot, that is the best beginners info I've ever seen.

 

Jeremy should hire you to rewrite their introductions to newcomers.

 

Your free software looks great also. I'm downloading it right now.

 

Cache on the spot

[GeoWorms]

Nice--I like it.

 

You've struck a nice balance between obfuscation and oversimplification.

 

As a bit of self-promotion--you could include a link to Today's Cacher to let folks read about the different aspects of caching too ...

[+planemaker]

Looks good!

 

Cheers!

 

Planemaker

[CharlzO]

G-R-E-A-T JOB!!! Love the site, and bookmarked it before I even started scrolling! mahvelous!

[+fly46]

The site isn't bad, but I would change a few wordings.

Well, maybe not change wordings, but add in something... Like, you talk about carrying cache descriptions, prior logs, etc, on printouts, which is fine, but also explain that other people go paperless or use PDAs to store that information instead.

Stuff like that.

[+Thot]

I would . . . add in something... Like, you talk about carrying cache descriptions, prior logs, etc, on printouts, which is fine, but also explain that other people go paperless or use PDAs to store that information instead. 

Done! I added a sidebar near the end of the "What to carry caching" section.

Edited October 11, 2004 by Thot

[+Thot]

Thanks to everyone for their kudos. Assures me it was worth the effort. Would it be presumptuous for me to suggest Jeremy add it to his "Read First!" message pinned to the top of this forum? The one that has this list:

 

o The Official Geocaching.com FAQ

o The Groundspeak Knowledgebase

o Markwell's Update to the FAQ

o Groundspeak Travel Bug FAQ

o Benchmark Hunting FAQ

 

Though it's a Beginners Guide or Beginners Tutorial and not called an FAQ, it's really supposed to answer beginners' questions.

 

I realize I can add another post in this long thread, but it has become so long I have to wonder how many people ever read all the posts in it. And, it has specific question/answer posts. I remember when I started I was overwhelmed by the stuff to read and I read Jeremy's initial set and followed the links, but I quit after seeing how narrow the focus some of the follow-on messages and how many there were. I think if it's to be seen by beginners it needs to be in the initial list.

[2oldfarts (the rockhounders)]

Good job, well organized.

 

You have more patience than I do to sit and organize all that info into a coherent page that's easy to read and follow.

 

Well done,

 

John

[+Jinxt]

Very nice Thot, thanks!

 

Also thanks to geobrown I like the downloadable printouts too.

 

Jinxt

[+CompuCash]

Very nice Thot, thanks!

 

Also thanks to geobrown I like the downloadable printouts too.

 

Jinxt

.

where are these printout links?

[+Dr Bombay and Lulu]

I'm new and your information helps me a lot, Thanks.

[+CapnJackSparrow]

Nicely written page. Thanks for the downloads.

[+Randy4]

Thot,

 

This contains alot of really good info. It saved me quite a bit time searching through the FAQs. I found just about everything I was looking for. Alot of great links too!!

 

Thanks a million!

 

Rajun Cajun™

[+TotemLake]

I added a link from my web to your web. Good write up!

[Apollo Bob]

I can certainly attest that I had a few questions after my first geocaching foray, and your site was extremely helpful in not only answering them, but making me even more enthusiastic about my new hobby. Well done!

[virgo91967]

Not a bad page, ya might want to make certain that the powers that be do not mind your using the Groundspeak/geocaching logo on tha page... I doubt they mind, but they might.

 

In order to "provide fair and balanced coverage" you may also want to mention the two "other " listing sites.

 

Again, Good Work

[+CompuCash]

Not a bad page, ya might want to make certain that the powers that be do not mind your using the Groundspeak/geocaching logo on tha page... I doubt they mind, but they might.

 

In order to "provide fair and balanced coverage" you may also want to mention the two "other " listing sites.

 

Again, Good Work

 

take a look at the bottom of the page -

 

The Groundspeak Geocaching Logo is a trademark of Groundspeak, Inc. Used with permission.

[+millercv]

I am a complete and utter newbie who hasn't been out yet - I like it

 

I found the what should I carry and tips section especially.

 

You may want to expand a bit on that the Pocket Queries have a lot more information on them. That was a little unclear until I downloaded them to try it out both ways.

 

Some examples of appreciated things to bring to trade might be nice. I think I've gleaned enough from lurking ont he boards here to steer away from McDonalds toys and try to keep the quality of items up. Also keep in mind they will be in a humid environment, etc.

 

Thanks!

 

-Chris M.

[Keystone]

Thanks to everyone for their kudos. Assures me it was worth the effort. Would it be presumptuous for me to suggest Jeremy add it to his "Read First!" message pinned to the top of this forum? The one that has this list:

 

o The Official Geocaching.com FAQ

o The Groundspeak Knowledgebase

o Markwell's Update to the FAQ

o Groundspeak Travel Bug FAQ

o Benchmark Hunting FAQ

 

Though it's a Beginners Guide or Beginners Tutorial and not called an FAQ, it's really supposed to answer beginners' questions.

 

I realize I can add another post in this long thread, but it has become so long I have to wonder how many people ever read all the posts in it. And, it has specific question/answer posts. I remember when I started I was overwhelmed by the stuff to read and I read Jeremy's initial set and followed the links, but I quit after seeing how narrow the focus some of the follow-on messages and how many there were. I think if it's to be seen by beginners it needs to be in the initial list.

I've added a post to the FAQ thread.

 

I would agree that the FAQ thread was getting cumbersome. If you haven't been there for awhile, take a peek and you will see that I have cleaned it up considerably, by deleting very old posts that didn't rise to "FAQ" status.

[sorchah]

wow, really great.

i request the second part.